


as she moves

by saiditallbefore



Category: Disney Princesses, Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F, Inspired by folklore, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-30 08:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21425212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/pseuds/saiditallbefore
Summary: Elsa goes in search of a nature spirit, and finds more than she bargained for.
Relationships: Elsa (Disney)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 79
Collections: Femslash Exchange 2019





	as she moves

**Author's Note:**

  * For [psiten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/psiten/gifts).

Elsa squared her shoulders, held her lantern aloft, and ventured into the forest. There were rumors of a hulda in the forest— a nature spirit that had lured men from the nearby village to their deaths.

Anna and Kristoff had both wanted to come with Elsa, in case she needed help. It was a kind thought, but Elsa knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Besides, huldas usually targeted men, and this one seemed to be no exception.

This far north, most of the trees were evergreens, with sharp, dark green needles that stayed on the trees all year round. But a few trees had leaves, turning orange and red in the autumn air.

To Elsa, who had spent so much of her life shut up inside, the scene was hypnotizing.

She heard a rustle, coming from somewhere to her left, and turned to face it. Had that been the wind, or something else?

Elsa took a few careful steps toward where the noise had come from. Then she heard it again, a bit further away. She moved more quickly this time, her pale blue skirt swishing around her ankles.

She pushed through a handful of bushes, certain that whatever she was looking for was just on the other side, and found herself all alone in a clearing.

When she’d entered the woods, it had still been afternoon. But the trees here were tall and broad, and blocked out all but a few weak sunbeams. 

Elsa held her lantern aloft, and looked around. This game was growing old. “I know you’re out there!”

Her voice echoed eerily for a moment, and then a woman stepped out from behind a tree.

Her skin was a pale brown, like the color of tree bark, and her long, dark hair glistened in the light of Elsa’s lantern. She was clothed in colorful autumn leaves, but her feet and shoulders were bare.

This had to be the hulda. 

The hulda cocked her head, gazing intently at Elsa. “You aren’t like the others.”

“I’m Queen Elsa of Arendelle.” She felt foolish, introducing herself to a nature spirit. But it was important to be polite. 

“You may call me Lisse.” 

“Lisse,” Elsa repeated, rolling the name around in her mouth. “Men from the local village have disappeared. I can’t allow you to hurt my subjects.”

Lisse laughed. The sound was both enchanting and chilling. “You came to bargain with me?”

“I came to talk to you.” Elsa squared her shoulders and held out a hand, allowing it to cover over with ice. “And stop you, if I have to.”

“Oh!” Lisse clapped in delight. “You _are _interesting, aren’t you?”

Elsa raised an eyebrow. 

Lisse ran her fingers down Elsa’s cheek. Elsa stiffened. “I’m quite serious! So many people are so boring. They follow me, and they annoy me, and then I have to get rid of them.”

“Those are my subjects,” Elsa said. “You can’t just kill them.”

Lisse laughed lightly. She stepped back from Elsa, her head cocked. 

“Oh, fine,” she said. “I won’t bother the villagers anymore. They’re not _nearly _as interesting.”

* * *

Elsa had thought that was the end of it. She’d dealt with the hulda— Lisse— and she’d returned back to the palace.

Like she often did these days— especially at Anna’s urging— Elsa had turned the courtyard into an ice rink. She’d spent years trying to lock her powers away. For so long, she hadn’t dared to dream that anything like this would be possible. 

There was a disturbance on the far side of the courtyard, and Elsa turned her attention that way. 

A familiar figure was making her way through the crowd. Elsa knew instantly who it was— no one else had hair that fell like that, or moved quite like that. And of course, no one else wore a dress made of leaves like that.

Elsa pushed her way over to her. “Lisse?”

The hulda threw her arms around Elsa, and Elsa stiffened. “Oh good, I found you!”

All around her, people were giving them odd looks, probably wondering who the strange woman was embracing the queen. Elsa shrugged away her self-consciousness; she’d become accustomed to being known as an odd ruler.

When Lisse finally released her, Elsa asked the question she’d really wanted to know. “What brings you here, Lisse?”

“I was curious,” she said.

Elsa supposed that was fair enough. “Would you— Do you want to stay in the palace? I can have a room made for you. Or are you more comfortable outside?” She really wasn’t sure what the protocol was for hosting a hulda who had followed her home.

Lisse smiled. “The palace.”

Elsa smiled back. As she led Lisse toward the palace, the two of them walked in silence. Elsa stole a few glances at the nature spirit, wondering if there was another reason she’d come. But neither one of them spoke until they were deep inside the palace. 

“I’ve known humans before,” Lisse said.

Elsa turned to her, wide-eyed. “What do you—”

“But it’s been a long time since I found one as interesting as you,” Lisse continued. She placed a hand on Elsa’s cheek, like she’d done when they met back in the forest. But this time, she leaned closer, kissing Elsa. 

At first, Elsa was too startled to react. She’d never been kissed before— not by a man _or_ a woman, and definitely not by a nature spirit. But there was something about it that she liked. 

Lisse was dangerous, no question about that. She’d killed Elsa’s subjects, and she’d only agreed to stop because she thought Elsa was interesting.

But Elsa was dangerous, too, and Lisse was beautiful and strange, and she was _here_, kissing Elsa.

Lisse had just begun to pull away from that first, almost tentative kiss, when Elsa pulled her back. She kissed Lisse more soundly, running her hands down Lisse’s back and through her hair.

When they finally broke apart, Elsa was straining to catch her breath and Lisse was smirking wildly. 

“This is going to be fun,” she said.

Elsa thought she might agree.


End file.
